Nearly universal: there is a universal legal requirement that you have health insurance, and about 90% of the population is a member of one of the very strictly regulated Krankenkasse (the "public" option), with most of the remaining 10% is covered by more loosely-regulated (but still strict by US standards) private insurance.
Nearly universal: there are, by many estimates, at least tens of thousands of people who fall through the cracks - mostly (former) small business owners, other independent contractors, and widows of government employees who cannot afford their private insurance anymore, and are too old/unemployed to require a Krankenkasse to take them in.
Doctors own their own practices, or are employed by practices or hospitals. They have the choice to not accept Krankenkasse repayment rates, in which case they can only accept private patients (privately insured, or self-paying).
Germany's health economy looks more like the US than it does the UK. Overall, it is less expensive for similar quality, and American-style ruinous 6-figure bills are unheard of.
Thanks for the explanation! With the exception of the implication that Krakenkasses aren’t required to be available to all (why? Strange that there would be age/employment requirements), that sounds excellent, at least from a US perspective. I think a public option that can negotiate and isn’t just a price taker goes a long way to reining in the excesses of the private options and the providers, if they want to remain competitive. We don’t really have that normalizing force in the US. But it’s nice to retain the private options so you have the option to pay more for better/quicker service.
Nearly universal: there are, by many estimates, at least tens of thousands of people who fall through the cracks - mostly (former) small business owners, other independent contractors, and widows of government employees who cannot afford their private insurance anymore, and are too old/unemployed to require a Krankenkasse to take them in.
Doctors own their own practices, or are employed by practices or hospitals. They have the choice to not accept Krankenkasse repayment rates, in which case they can only accept private patients (privately insured, or self-paying).
Germany's health economy looks more like the US than it does the UK. Overall, it is less expensive for similar quality, and American-style ruinous 6-figure bills are unheard of.